Thursday, December 8, 2016

‘Tis the
season to celebrate! Five of Forever’s authors with brand new Christmas romances
are sharing their favorite holiday recipes and memories.

CAROLYN BROWN’S
PUMPKIN BREAD

Kids,
grand children, great-grands, all coming home for the holidays—the aroma of
pumpkin bread baking in the oven—everyone waiting for it to get done so they
can slice it up while it’s still hot, slather butter or whipped cream cheese on
it, and tell the age old stories about the holidays we’ve had in the house.
That’s the stuff memories are made off and every time I smell pumpkin bread it
puts a smile on my face for the whole day.

PUMPKIN BREAD

This makes 2 loaves and 8
muffins; Or it makes one Bundt cake

½ cup
butter

½ cup
shortening

2 2/3
cups of sugar

4 eggs

2 cups
canned pumpkin (one 15-16 ounce can)

3 ½ cups
flour

1½ teaspoons
cinnamon

1
teaspoon salt

2
teaspoons soda

1 cup
pecans (optional)

2/3 cup
of cold strong black coffee

(NOTE: I
use all butter if I’m out of shortening or even oil)

1.Cream
first four ingredients.

2.Add
canned pumpkin.

3.Add
dry ingredients alternately with coffee

4.Bake
at 375 degrees for 1 hour for loaves or bundt cake, 25 minutes for muffins, or
until they test done in the center.

5.Cool
10 minutes before removing from pan.

6.Cool
completely before frosting with Harvest Moon Frosting (below).

HARVEST MOON FROSTING

3 egg
whites

1½ cups
brown sugar

6
tablespoons water

Pinch
salt

1
teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine
all ingredients except vanilla in a double boiler. Cook 7 minutes, beating the
whole time with an electric mixer, over the boiling water.The frosting will stand in peaks when done. Add
vanilla.Beat until thick enough to
spread.

My dad
used to live across the street from us. Every year, when my kids were little,
he would dress up like Santa, climb out his window on the second floor, and
hang Christmas lights on his fire escape. My kids would watch from our window
with wonder in their eyes, unaware that it was grandpa. He would turn and wave
to them, sending them into little fits of breathlessness. Later, we would visit
grandma and grandpa’s for homemade cookies (left there for them by Santa).
The house was always fully decked out with every Christmas
decoration imaginable with Alvin and the Chipmunks on repeat while the
kids hunted down little “pre-Christmas” gifts he’d hide for them. I
loved witnessing the magic of Christmas and love through their eyes. Now grown,
my kids will sometimes still look out the window at his fire escape and smile,
remembering a grandpa who loved them beyond measure.

4.Pinch
off dough, roll in your hands to form a log and then twirl into shape.

5.Place
on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

ICING

2 cups
sifted confectioner’s sugar

2
teaspoons vanilla extract

6
teaspoons water

Combine
all ingredients in a medium sized bowl.Stir until creamy. Dip cookies into icing and sprinkle with trim. Place
on wire rack with wax paper on counter to collect the dripping icing and
sprinkles.

One of
my family’s favorite holiday traditions is our tree trimming party. We’ve held
one every year for the past thirty years. Though I don’t know if it qualifies
as a party seeing as it’s just the
immediate family. But we do make a thing of it with our favorite carols playing
in the background, fire on (mostly for ambience), hot chocolate served in
festive mugs, lots of holiday treats, and a special ornament for each of the kids
and grandkids to open before the tree decorating gets under way.

But I
think the most fun for all of us isn’t decorating the tree, it’s unpacking the
ornaments. I’ve always tried to buy an ornament that’s uniquely suited to each
of the kids, whether it was a sport they were into that year or a movie, book,
or hobby they loved, so unwrapping each one brings back a lot of special
memories. Here’s a peek at just some of the collection. I don’t think it will
be long before we have to break from tradition and let the kids take some of
the ornaments home to decorate their own trees. Either that or we’ll have to
put up another tree.

And this
one in my office doesn’t countEvery year, my family gifts me with
an ornament too. This year they gave me these three adorable ornaments to
celebrate the release of the first book in the new Harmony Harbor series,
MISTLETOE COTTAGE, and the short story, CHRISTMAS WITH AN ANGEL.

Every
year for the last quarter-century, or possibly longer, I have set aside the
Saturday closest to Christmas to bake gingerbread cookies with my children, and
now, with my grandchildren.These are
the only cookies I make at Christmas time, and the activity is more about
family fun than turning out a perfect cookie.Usually I do most of the rolling, cutting, and baking.And the rest of the family does the
decorating.

The
magic is in the royal icing.The white
icing is a snap to make, and it can be divided up into small bowls and colored
with food dye, creating pots of colored cookie paint.I give each child (or adult) a watercolor
paint brush and let them paint the icing onto the cookies.The kids have a blast, and the cookies always
come out looking wonderfully homemade.

2.Using
an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and
fluffy.Add the egg and molasses and
beat thoroughly.

3.On
low speed, add the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.

4.Cut
the dough into thirds, pat into disks, wrap in plastic and chill until firm – 2
hours or overnight.

5.Preheat
the oven to 350 degrees.On a lightly
floured surface, roll out the dough about 1/16 inch thick and cut cookies with
cookie cutters.Transfer the cookies to
an ungreased cookie sheet.Bake for
about 10 minutes, until the edges of the cookie turn brown.

6.Let
cool on sheets and then transfer to a wire rack.Decorate with royal icing.

In my newest release, CHRISTMAS COMES TO MAIN STREET, my heroine owns a
cookie bakery. As this story takes place over the holidays, I thought hard
about a signature cookie she might make, and eventually I settled on charming
snowflake cookies. Of course these are not just any old cut out cookie, though.
No, Kara makes them by the dozen, sure to keep each one in the batch distinct
in shape and decoration, because no two snowflakes are ever the same, after
all! And it’s these snowflake cookies that she delivers every day to the inn in
Briar Creek…where a Christmas visitor falls in love with more than just her
cookies.
I hope you all enjoy these snowflake cookies as much as Nate does! JKARA’S SNOWFLAKE COOKIES (sugar
cookie cut-out and royal icing recipes courtesy of Martha Stewart)

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter,
room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1.Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

2.Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer
fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy.
Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture.
Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic.
Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.

3.Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in upper and
lower thirds. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft
enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic
wrap to 1/4 inch thick. Remove top layer of plastic wrap. Cut out cookies.
Transfer cookie dough on plastic wrap to a baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet
to freezer, freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet from
freezer and transfer shapes to baking sheets lined with nonstick baking mats.
Roll out scraps, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.

Beat the
whites until stiff but not dry. Add sugar, lemon juice and glycerin (if using);
beat for 1 minute more. If icing is too thick, add more egg whites; if it is
too thin, add more sugar. The icing may be stored in an airtight container in
the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Decorate each as you wish!

Monday, December 5, 2016

Lily Everett's Sanctuary Island series is being reissued with brand-new covers. Aren't these gorgeous??? The first two books of the series are my favorite and I'm quite partial to them.

Ms. Everett has two new books in the series releasing in early 2017, so if you missed Sanctuary Island, Shoreline Drive, or Heartbreak Cove the first time around, now is a great opportunity to catch up!